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Govt's new water legislation aims to be neither "hopelessly local" nor "mindlessly central"

Author
Newstalk ZB,
Publish Date
Tue, 13 Feb 2024, 8:39AM
Photo / Michael Cunningham
Photo / Michael Cunningham

Govt's new water legislation aims to be neither "hopelessly local" nor "mindlessly central"

Author
Newstalk ZB,
Publish Date
Tue, 13 Feb 2024, 8:39AM

The Prime Minister believes re-structuring water delivery will provide consistency for councils. 

The clock is ticking as the Government has set itself 10 days to pass a Bill repealing Labour's water reforms, which the Government sees as divisive and unpopular. 

It will then aim to make it easier to set up council-controlled water organisations. 

The Prime Minister sees Wellington Water as too local and Labour's plan as too central. 

Christopher Luxon told Mike Hosking that two guardrails will be put in place around water standards and economic management. 

He says the correct structure provides consistency around rate increases in an efficient way. 

He also told Hosking that Auckland's public transport issues are suboptimal.  

Trains were cancelled yesterday, including at peak time, due to the heat.  

Kiwi Rail, which owns the tracks, put speed restrictions in place as tracks reached 48 degrees in some places.  

It says there's underlying weakness in the section of track, necessitating the restrictions.  

Luxon says that Transport Minister Simeon Brown called the agencies in last night to understand what's happening.  

He says some of the excuses we've heard about hot tracks and miscommunication aren't acceptable. 

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